Acai Express Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $158K – $429K
- Disclosed sales
- $516K
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- Under 10 loans (5)
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Acai Express is a quick-service franchise serving acai bowls, smoothies, and juices, with drive-thru and kiosk formats. Franchisees run the shops, managing fresh prep, inventory, and fast counter service.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Acai Express franchise requires a total initial investment of $158K – $429K, including a $25K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2023 FDD, average unit revenue was $516K[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: high - issued more than two years ago
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✗ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored6 of 7 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing; the rest are marked “Not cited” beside the figure.
Overview
- Investment
- $158K – $429K
- 13th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $516K
- Incl. company outlets4th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 48th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 46
- 64th pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Quick-Service Restaurants median · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $158K – $429K including a $25K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $516K/year (includes company-owned outlets).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 75/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHPositive: net +10 franchised outlets in the latest year (10 opened, 0 closed) (Item 20).
- GROWTHSystem growing at 72.7% CAGR over 3 years with 46 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Acai Express Franchising Inc.
- Predecessor
- None
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- President
- Hector F. Westerband
- Incorporated in
- Puerto Rico
- HQ
- Urb. Caribe #1569 Calle Alda, Suite 302, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00926
- Auditor
- Reese CPA LLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $2.1M
- vs $1.6M prior year
Overview
About
- CEO
- Hector F. Westerband
- Headquarters
- PR
- Founded
- 2014
- FDD year
- 2023
- States available
- 5
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 40% below the typical quick-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2023 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2023 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $25K | $25K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $10K | $20K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $123K | $384K |
| Total initial investment | $158K | $429K |
Source: Acai Express 2023 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $158K – $429K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $10K – $20K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $25K – $25K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 9.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $200 |
| Training fee | $3K |
| Transfer fee | $13K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| Inventory (initial) | $4K – $10K |
| Total fee load | 9.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 47% below the quick-service restaurants norm.
Includes company-owned outlets
Source: FDD 2023 · Item 19
Single-unit · not modelled
Returns at a glance
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit, and the operating costs that turn one into the other are in no filing. We publish no modelled return for Acai Express until someone supplies them — yours, in the models below.
—
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
Total invested capital · disclosed
$309K
Item 7 initial investment plus working capital, as filed — the one figure here that needs no assumption.
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit, read against the 30–60% reference band · Yale SOM, Post-MBA Path Exhibit 2 (2023). Below that band a passive index fund likely outperforms; above it the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses, and it is the top line only — gross sales are not profit. No FDD discloses the operating costs that turn one into the other, so those fields start empty and nothing is modelled until you supply them from your own lease quote, labor market and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Acai Express unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
A 25-unit return is built on a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in Model A above and this model runs on that figure, or take the whole scenario to the full ROI workbench, where the portfolio and LBO models accept your own per-unit economics directly.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2023 FDD
Financial Performance
Includes company-owned outlets
- Avg gross sales
- $516K
- Per unit, per year
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- gross sales
- Sample size
- 28 outlets
- vs category median 19
- Range (low → high)
- $120K→$935KCited, not corroborated — printed on page 62 of the 2023 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2022
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2023
- Disclosed in the 2023 filing, covering 2022
Compared against 781 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $516K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.8x. Includes company-owned outlets.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 9.0% — above the Quick-Service Restaurants median of 7.5%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 0/10 — minimal disclosure beyond the required average. Hard to judge the distribution of outcomes across units.
Operator retention
System expanding at 72.7% CAGR over 3 years across 46 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Quick-Service Restaurants medians
How Acai Express Compares
Category median of published Quick-Service Restaurants brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2023 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 46
- Opened
- 10
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- N/A
- Company-owned
- 8
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 83%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +72.7%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +72.7%
- Compounded over last 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 2
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 5 states reported
The Territory Map
FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.
5
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
1 current owner across 1 state.
- SC 1
Counts only, from the list the franchisor prints in Item 20. Names and phone numbers are for your own due diligence and are not shown here.
Fast growth in a small system. Newer franchisors expanding quickly may not yet have the support infrastructure of larger systems.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA loan disclosures. This brand has only 5 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 5
- Loan volume
- $960K
- Median loan
- $190K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- Under 10 loans (5)
- Insufficient SBA coverage: 5 loans, rate hidden below 10
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- Under 10 loans (5)
- 5-yr charge-off
- Under 10 loans (5)
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 4
- Defaults
- N/A
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
Item 3 states: "No litigation is required to be disclosed in this Item."
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Reese CPA LLC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 75 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDHigh unit growth rate (35.7% YoY) without disclosed profitability metrics suggests possible unsustainable expansion or franchisee churn masking
- 02MINORSmall unit base (46 locations) limits system maturity and increases failure risk if key franchisees exit
- 03MED6% royalty on undisclosed revenue creates blind spot for actual franchisee margins and break-even timeline
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 9.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2023 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory sizeℹ | one-mile radius of the accepted location (suburban); limited to the shop address in urban areas (>1 million population) |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 5 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Governing law | PR |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Item 3 states: "No litigation is required to be disclosed in this Item."
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 40 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 41 hrs
- Training location
- Headquarters in San Juan, Puerto Rico (or alternative location designated by franchisor)
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 12 mo
- From signing to launch
- POS system
- Touch Bistro
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Touch Bistro
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
1 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Acai Express franchise?
The total investment to open a Acai Express franchise ranges from $158K – $429K, with an initial franchise fee of $25K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Acai Express franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Acai Express FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $516K. Important context: Includes company-owned outlets. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns Acai Express?
Acai Express is franchised by Acai Express Franchising Inc.. The FDD names no parent company. Source: FDD Item 1, 2023 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Acai Express FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Acai Express FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Acai Express's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Acai Express (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many Acai Express franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Acai Express has 46 total units in the United States, including 38 franchised units and 8 company-owned units. 10 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Acai Express a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Acai Express as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 75 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
Are you the franchisor?
If you represent Acai Express, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.